Restraining Order in Logging Fight

Published 1:34 pm, Monday, April 25, 2016

A federal judge has granted an immediate restraining order against a logging company that environmentalists say violated a no-cut order in place since late last year.

Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, appeared in Seattle's U.S. District Court to ask for the order after a supporter witnessed logging on the Chu-Aw Clau-she timber sale near Coos Bay on Dec. 31, said Patti Goldman, an Earthjustice lawyer.

The restraining order is the latest in a running battle between loggers and environmentalists who want to protect the coho salmon.

Last September, the coho's threatened status under the Endangered Species Act was lifted by a U.S. District judge. That ruling allowed timber companies to resume work at a number of logging sites because the coho that live in nearby streams were no longer federally protected.

On Dec. 14, environmentalists won a stay from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco restoring Oregon coastal coho to its threatened species status. A temporary halt to logging at the site was ordered.

But on Dec. 20, a forest monitor for Umpqua Watersheds witnessed logging at the timber sale. Environmentalists saw more logging by Lone Rock Timber Co. of Roseburg on Dec. 31, Goldman said.

She said about two to three acres were cut over at least a three-day period.